Molly
by wndrw8
Summary: 18 years after the move to California, CC and Niles prepare to send their only child to college.


**A/N: The only CC/Niles fic you will ever see me write.**

**Probably.**

**Brought to you by hurricane Sandy.**

* * *

CC stared at the ticket in her hand. _Molly Babcock. 10:54am LAX to JFK_. No layovers. No stops. Just a straight flight and her daughter would leave for good.

She tilted back the last of the scotch, feeling the heat in her cheeks as she fingered the detested ticket in her nimble fingers. She leaned back against the balcony lounge chair and let her long, grey hair spread out against the padding. "I'll burn it."

Niles chuckled from a few feet away, his hands smoothing over a piece of wood that he was slowly shaving down. "College is a natural part of a child's—"

"But she'll never come back."

"Of course she will."

"How do you know for sure?"

Niles eyed the drink in her hand. "Lay off the booze, Cruella. Or she might not."

Behind them, a door shut in the living room and CC heard the thump of a cane against the floor. The slow footsteps. She hated the sound of those footsteps. Every time she heard them they reminded her of the near fatal accident her daughter had been in eight months ago.

CC clutched her drink.

Molly had recovered quickly from the concussion, the contusions, cuts, and bruises. But her leg had taken longer. Partially drawn out by grief. She could see it in her daughter's eyes whenever they talked about it. Her boyfriend, the driver, had died in the accident.

"Molly moo," CC called out. "Come here."

"Don't call me that."

Blonde hair shimmered under the light from the setting sun. Except for her short stature, Molly looked exactly like her. She carried herself the same way, crossed her arms in the same way, and stood the same.

Seeing her standing there for what would be the last time, CC felt like a part of her was being ripped away.

"Ignore your mother. She's drank an entire bottle already."

"Daddy…" a note of warning clung to her low voice.

Niles winked at his daughter and put down the piece of sandpaper he was using. He wiped his hands on his pants and started for the kitchen. "It's your last night, bumblebee. What would you like?"

CC watched as Molly pressed her lips together in thought. There was still a faint scar above her eyebrow and she traced it with her fingertip. As if it would go away just because she wished it.

Molly pushed her hand away. "Cake, please."

"You can't just have cake for dinner."

"Cake and wine?"

Niles was silent in the kitchen for a moment before giving a disgruntled sigh. It made Molly chuckle as she sat down on the armrest of the large wooden chair next to her mother. She rested the cane against the wall of the house and bent her good leg for balance.

CC's hands shook a little as she poured another glass. She was about to raise it to her lips when Molly reached out and took it from her. "Let me help you with that."

"Molly—"

"I'm going to New York. You think I won't drink there?"

"Oh, I know you will. You're _my_ daughter, after all."

"Don't say that in front of Daddy."

CC chuckled. She tilted her head back against the chair and closed her eyes. Tried to capture the moment in her memory and hold it forever. After a second she opened her mouth to speak, but Molly cut her off.

"Mom, what really happened between you and Mr. Sheffield?"

CC paused, then leaned drunkenly forward, almost knocking the now empty glass of scotch from her daughter's hands. "What? Why are you asking about that?"

"Well, I…" Molly shifted. A piece of blonde hair fell in her eyes and she looked down at her leg with pinched lips. "I thought you wanted to marry him at one point?"

"Yes, but—"

"So what happened when you couldn't?"

CC leaned back in the chair. A breeze ruffled at her shirt and she drew the shawl tighter around her shoulders. She licked her lips. "Molly, what's this really about?"

"It's just… it was supposed to be me and Matt _together_ in New York. Now I…"

CC felt her body go stiff. A lump formed in her throat and she pinched her temples before blowing out a sigh that had caught in her chest. She knew this question would come at some point in time but she still wasn't quite sure how to answer it. "You're a Babcock. We survive. It's what we do."

"There's a difference between surviving and being happy."

CC swallowed. Felt it in her chest. How many years had she struggled to find that difference? How many years had she been miserable? It tore her apart to see that same pain in her daughter's eyes. She wrapped her arms around Molly's waist and pulled her onto her lap like she was still three years old with that infectious giggle and infallible potty mouth. "You know, sometimes you get so stuck on an idea that nothing else seems to hold up in comparison. But you can't do that to yourself. You have to make room for changes. Things don't always work out the way we want them to."

"Easy for you to say."

"No. It was _not_ easy. Not at all."

Molly tensed in her arms for a moment before relaxing. Then she laid her head back against CC's shoulder and sighed. "Sorry, Mom. I know it wasn't. I know."

They rested in an easy silence before Niles made his way back onto the balcony with a small chocolate cake. He carried a fresh bottle of scotch in his other hand and set it down on the small wooden table in front of them before turning to CC. "What would you like with the cake, my love? Scotch or an animal tranquilizer?"

"Oh, lay off it you old queen."

"Sot."

"QUIT." Molly took a piece of the cake and cut it in half, swallowing a huge mouthful of the frosting side before offering a bite to her mother. "Christ. It's painful to be in the same room with you two."

"Mr. Sheffield did it for all those years."

Molly snorted. "Maxwell has no soul."

"Fran was there, too."

"Yes, but Daddy, that woman never knows what's going on. How the hell could you expect her to pick up on _anything_?"

Niles made a tisking sound with his teeth before opening the second bottle of scotch and placing it on the table just out of his wife's reach. "Now, now," he said. "Be nice. That woman is one of my closest friends."

CC immediately caught the gaze of her daughter and they held for a moment, eyes twinkling, before bursting into a fit of low pitched chuckles.

Niles pulled up a short, wooden stool and sat down across from them with his back to the water. The ocean waves lapped against the shore, rocking the small row boat they had tied there. CC watched as his hands smoothed around the thick glass tumbler and even though he stayed light in mood, she knew he was worrying. His eyes flickered up to hers, held for a moment, before switching over to Molly.

"What did I miss?"

"Well…" Molly smiled and shoved another huge chunk of frosting in her mouth. "Mom was just telling me some important college things."

"Oh, like how to fight a hangover? Don't listen to her on that one. Her method is just to stay drunk."

Molly set down the plate of cake and sighed dramatically. "Daddy, I know you're nervous about me leaving, but do you have to take it out on her?"

"Yeah,_ Daddy_," CC said, grinning and snuggling closer to her daughter. "What did I ever do to you?"

A loaded question with a loaded response. CC watched Niles with a sly grin on her face as Molly poured a bit of scotch into the glass she had before, took a small sip, and handed the rest to her mother. Oblivious to the years of fighting and struggling. Oblivious to the years of smart mouthed remarks that lead them down passages they couldn't travel back through.

"You'll make good choices, right bumblebee?"

"Of course."

"The way you should think of it is—if your mother would do it, then you shouldn't."

Molly smiled a little bit before shaking her head, and CC took the opportunity to squeeze her tighter. One last night and it would be just her and Niles again. All alone in the house. It was good in many ways, but in other ways she was scared beyond belief. When she finally lost Maxwell for good, she'd at least had things with Niles and her career to focus on. Now what? She'd made her money and fame. Her child was grown.

What next?

"You know," she sighed, "I remember one time we took you to the farmer's market in San Diego. You must've been 12, maybe 15 months. Your father was carrying you past an organic milk stand when you threw up all over his jacket," CC smiled at the memory. "You were such a good baby."

Molly's laugh was low and melodious. She shifted back further into her mother's embrace and tilted her head. "So I was thinking maybe you two could visit for Thanksgiving. Mom, it'd be nice seeing you in your natural environment."

Niles opened his mouth but Molly cut him off.

"_Daddy_."

"Sorry."

The boat thudded against the shore again and CC felt the seconds slipping by. Precious moments she could never get back. Niles was right, she thought. Time _was_ her enemy. It was the enemy of them all.

"Don't worry," Molly finally said, taking her mother's shawl and wrapping it around the both of them. "This will always be home to me."


End file.
